On the same day that Missouri became the first No. 12 seed to win a Big 12 Tournament game with an upset win over Oklahoma, No. 6-seeded Nebraska fell victim to an upset as Kansas never trailed in a 73-67 first-round victory over the Huskers at Municipal Auditorium.

"That's the story of the season in the Big 12," Nebraska coach Connie Yori said. "You look at what happened today: 11 and 12 (seeds) won against five and six. It's not a surprise to anyone, considering the competition level in this league and how great this league is."

The Jayhawks (16-14) shot 65.4 percent from the field in the second half and help off a late charge by Nebraska to advance to Wednesday's quarterfinal round against Oklahoma State. Kansas shot 53.7 percent for the game, winning for the second time in three contests over the Huskers.

Taylor McIntosh and Sade Morris scored 13 points apiece to lead Kansas. Kelly Kohn added 11 points off the bench for the Jayhawks, who broke a five-game losing streak and won as a No. 11 seed for the second consecutive year in the Big 12 tournament.

"I thought Kansas played very, very hard," Yori said. "I thought they executed very well. They got some transition baskets. I thought they looked to attack us in transition early.

"I thought we were a little bit on our heels early as they were attacking us. We did a better job as the game got going of taking that away, but we dug ourselves into a hole. We tried a couple of times to battle back, but basically ran out of time."

Kelsey Griffin scored a game-high 21 points and pulled down 10 rebounds for Nebraska (20-11), which shot 33.9 percent from the floor. Yvonne Turner added 14 points for the Huskers, who stayed in the game with a 22-of-28 performance at the free-throw line.

"On our end, we did a lot of things right, but we missed some easy shots," Yori said. "In order to win at this level, you've got to cash in on those and we probably missed six or eight really point-blank shots right at the rim that could've changed the complexion of the game.

"You've got to make those and today was not our day to make those for whatever reason."

Despite trailing by double figures for much of the second half, Nebraska rallied and trailed just 68-64 on a Turner 3-pointer with 1:27 to play. Kaitlyn Burke again chopped the Huskers' deficit to four at 71-67 with 18 seconds to play, but the Jayhawks hit a pair of free throws to close out the win.

NU senior forward Danielle Page said it was simply a frustrating game for the Huskers.

"I remember missing a lot of point-blank layups," Page said. "The game was frustrating. We just weren't doing enough little things right on both ends. If we could've cleaned it up and maybe executed a little better offensively and take away a couple of looks defensively, we could've come out with the win."

Nebraska shot just 30 percent in the first half and trailed 30-26 at the intermission. Page said the Huskers' struggles were a combination of Kansas' good defense and her team's lack of execution.

"They were playing us tough in the post and really being physical down there, but it was also us," Page said. "We were missing a lot of easy shots that we normally make and were missing today. I think if we would've made those shots, it would've been a different game.

While most analysts predict that Nebraska will receive a NCAA Tournament bid, the Huskers would've obviously liked to have removed all doubt with at least one win in Kansas City. Now, they must wait.

"I don't know if there's necessarily anxiety or anything," Griffin said. "I think we went into this hoping to improve our seeding. You don't know because anything can happen and you don't know because it's up to them to decide, but we've got to get back into the gym and work on some things.

"Whatever ends up happening, we'll just be prepared for it."

The loss was a blow for Nebraska, which came to the tournament with a two-game winning streak and was looking to make some noise in Kansas City. Instead, the Huskers were eliminated in the first round for the second consecutive year and for the fourth time in six seasons under Yori.

"It is hard, but you have to credit Kansas," Griffin said. "They played a great game. They did more things right than we did and that's what basketball games usually come down to.

"If anything, I hope our team can go back to Lincoln and use this as motivation that we are a great basketball team and if we do clean things up and play like we can play, we should take confidence from this loss, knowing than we're a much better basketball team than maybe we showed."

KANSAS 73, NEBRASKA 67
KANSAS (16-14)
Jacobs 4-6 1-2 9, McIntosh 5-5 3-3 13, Boogaard 2-2 3-3 7, Morris 6-12 0-1 13, McCray 3-12 3-6 9, Kohn 4-6 1-1 11, Smith 2-7 0-0 5, Catic 0-0 0-0 0, Weddington 3-4 0-0 6. Totals 29-54 11-16 73.
NEBRASKA (20-11)
Turner 5-13 2-3 14, Griffin 6-13 9-11 21, Kelley 1-4 3-4 5, Hester 1-4 4-5 6, Page 3-12 2-2 8, Neals 0-1 0-0 0, Kuhlmann 1-4 0-0 3, Montgomery 1-6 0-0 2, Bober 0-0 2-2 2, Burke 2-2 0-1 6. Totals 20-59 22-28 67.
Halftime- -Kansas 30, Nebraska 26. 3-point goals- -Kansas 4-17 (Morris 1-3, McCray 0-6, Kohn 2-4, Smith 1-4), Nebraska 5-16 (Turner 2-7, Kelley 0-2, Page 0-1, Neals 0-1, Kuhlmann 1-2, Montgomery 0-1, Burke 2-2). Fouled out- -McIntosh. Rebounds- -Kansas 38 (McIntosh 11), Nebraska 35 (Griffin 10). Assists- -Kansas 20 (Morris 6), Nebraska 7 (Hester, Burke 2). Turnovers- -Kansas 24, Nebraska 17. Totals fouls- -Kansas 23, Nebraska 19. Technicals- -None. A- -3,974.